Surviving the Oregon Trail, 1852: As Told by Mary Ann and Willis Boatman and Augmented with Accounts by Other Overland Travelers

By Weldon W. Rau and Willis Boatman

Book Overview

With numbers swelled by Oregon-bound settlers as well as hordes of gold-seekers destined for California, the 1852 overland migration was the largest on record in a year taking a terrible toll in lives mainly due to deadly cholera. Included here are firsthand accounts of this fateful year, including the words and thoughts of a young married couple, Mary Ann and Willis Boatman, released for the first time in book-length form.

In its immediacy, Surviving the Oregon Trail, 1852 opens a window to the travails of the overland journeyers--their stark camps, treacherous river fordings, and dishonest countrymen; the shimmering plains and mountain vastnesses; trepidation at crossing ancient Indian lands; and the dark angel of death hovering over the wagon columns. But also found here are acts of valor, compassion, and kindness, and the hope for a new life in a new land at the end of the trail.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0874222389
• ISBN13: 9780874222388
• Release Date: April 2001
• Publisher: Washington State University Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 15 years and up

Customer Reviews

The Way it Was Following the Oregon Trail

Through the diaries of Mary Ann and Willis Boatman supplemented with the diaries of other travelers author Weldon Rau has provided us with a unique and interesting account of the difficulties encountered traveling along the Emigrant Road during the year of 1852. Beginning near the end of March and finally completing their trek to the west coast from Illinois in October seven months later the book covers the numerous trials and tribulations adventure seekers dealt with in search of a better life. Weather, insects such as mosquitoes and ticks which caused "mountain fever", and Indians were minor problems that needed attention. Short-tempered individuals giving in to stressful situations at times led to murder with frontier justice leading up to the hanging of the offending person. By far, however, the leading cause of death was the disease of cholera which lead to severe dehydration. This disease was caused by the unsanitary conditions along the Oregon Trail as individuals left their waste at any convenient location. If you were wealthy you may own a conestoga wagon to transport your wares pulled by oxen. As is true with travelers today over-packing was a mistake people made. Oxen needed grass and water as fuel and this was not always readily available. Heavy objects such as stoves and anvils were later discarded along the trail as the animals died carrying objects that had to necessarily be later tossed away. The diary of the Boatman's ended with their arrival at the Blue Mountains of present-day northeast Oregon. We can only guess why, but it was probably due to fatigue finally setting in along with scanty provisions left for the trip. Both Mary Ann and Willis Boatman lived to a ripe old age and are buried in the Puget Sound area of Washington where they finally settled since the area around Portland had been pretty much settled by the time of their arrival. A significant amount of the book is Mary Ann Boatman's diary which is in smaller print than the regular text which makes for somewhat more difficult reading, but I found this book to be a worthwhile addition to my library on the history of the American west.

1852...

The Oregon Trail in 1852 was a very crowded route. As much as 70,000 people used it that year. They had to deal with clouds of dust, lack of food and water, cholera, bad roads, little to no grass, dangerous rivers and sometimes even Indians. Mr. Weldon Willis Rau used his grandparent's first person accounts, along with many others, to give us a taste of what traveling the Oregon Trail was like. From packing, to trading, to setting up a homestead at the end of the journey he really helps us to understand the struggle to survive. But the promise, the reward of freedom and land and, yes, even wealth, drove people to go West. Many, in fact I would say most, didn't reach their goal. Some turned back. Some died. Some just stopped, set up a home and decided to roam no more. Having just played The Oregon Trail, 5th Edition, before reading this book I was amazed on how much I knew already. The maps in the book are very detailed and I even recognized many of the stops along the way. Yet the book, of course, helped me learn so much more about the conditions the folks traveled under, the people they had to deal with and the decisions they have to make. Lots of information about the geology and the landscape. The author knows the area and it comes out in his work. He loves the history, both the natural history and the history of the frontier life. A must for any library on the Old West, first person history, American History, frontier life or anybody interested in the Oregon Trail.

Stamina, endurance and perseverance

The amount of determination, courage and fortitude to travel the continent as an overlander in 1852 must have been unimaginable. This is a remarkable first hand account of the Boatman's journey from Illinois to the Oregon Territory, along with quotes from other overlanders' diaries during the same year. Suffering from the heat, thirst, food shortages for both emigrants and livestock, the cold, rain, mud, river crossings, cholera epidemics and other illnesses, exhaustion and death to many who attempted such an endeavor, this book has it all. The author, a decendent of the Boatmans, has put forth a most wonderful book depicting the hardships and misfortunes of the early day pioneers. A+

Surviving the Oregon Trail 1852

I have known the author for more than 30 years, so I have been aware of his 15-year effort to research, write, and publish this book as it unfolded. It is with pleasure, therefore, that I can attest to how well crafted it is. Rau tells the story of his great-grandparents' journey by employing extensive quotes from their written accounts and from the accounts of other 1852 Oregon Trail travelers. These quotes are woven together and amplified by Rau's observations of the physical, cultural, and social settings they experienced, including how the geology along the way influenced the development of the terrain. The book is also very well edited. I found but one typographical error and two place names missing from one map.Besides being very well crafted, the book has left me with several strong impressions. The travelers, especially the men, approached the trip with a sense of romanticism. It was going to be a grand adventure with a pot of gold waiting at the end. A very different reality forced its way into their consciousness as the trip unfolded. The trip brought out all the best and worst traits of the travelers and those who sought to serve and usually profit from them along the way. They experienced disease, death, and discomfort. They and others suffered from cholera, scurvy, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Mary Ann and Willis' brothers both died on the trip, as did many others they met along the way. Mary Ann was pregnant for the whole trip and had to walk much of the way, in addition to performing the cooking and other housekeeping chores that fell to her. In addition there were extremes of weather, loneliness, homesickness, sorrow, grief, resignation, thievery, greed, and hardheadedness. These were balanced by bravery, resoluteness, kindness, compassion, neighborliness, concern, and assistance, sometimes from people they didn't even know. The journey had but three possible outcomes; they had to turn back and reach their former homes, get to the Willamette Valley, or die before winter hit. In some ways their journey can be compared with what the first interplanetary travelers will experience. Indeed, even after Willis and mary Ann reached the relative safety of the Willamette Valley and then the Puget Sound country, for years they felt as isolated and separated from their families as if they were on another planet.If you have had no real appreciation for the magnitude of the feat that Oregon Trail travelers accomplished, you will have when you finish this book.

West to Oregon Territory

The fact that Weldon Willis Rau is a geologist who has turned his talents to the writing of history lends a special flavor to his book, Surviving the Oregon Trail, 1852. Basing much of his work on the notes left by his great grandparents, Willis and Mary Ann Boatman, Rau gives us a gripping and factual story of the wagon trip west from Illinois to Oregon Territory in that pioneer time nearly a century and a half ago. The recounting begins with the sorrows of leaving home and parting from loved ones. The sad picture of an old grandfather, waving a tearful goodbye, knowing that he will never see his beloved young ones again, moves the reader to compassion. Children as well as adults are disturbed by the upheaval of unprecedented departure. The trek to the Missouri River was not easy, but was yet a rather civilized journey compared to what was to lie ahead. Crossing at about the site of present-day Omaha the Boatmans followed the Platte and the North Platte westward toward Wyoming. Sickness was the great affliction along the those river banks. Many of the westward travellers died, particularly of cholera. Along the way. Mary Ann Boatman's young brother was among those lost to disease. Wyoming and Idaho offered many hills to climb, streams to ford or ferry, steep slopes to descend, and scenic wonders new and remarkable to folks from Illinois. Water for all and grazing for the cows and draft oxen were often hard to find. Dust whirled up by the wheels of the wagons and the hooves of the animals choked all the travelers in various places. In Oregon the great gorge of the Columbia was a traverse not equalled elsewhere on earth. During the gorge trek Willis Boatman's brother, John, died, leaving Willis and a pregnant Mary Ann the only family members left in the trip. The two arrived in Portland exhausted and nearly broke. Weldon Rau tells this story with great feeling and understanding. His respect for his pioneeer ancestors is manifest. Clearly he has explored nearly the whole route his great grandparents travelled. And his explanations of the geology that formed these Oregon Trail lands adds greatly to the reader's undertanding. This book is a welcome addition to any library.